US Suspends Issuance of Immigrant Visas

In January 2026, the U.S. Department of State announced a temporary suspension of immigrant visa issuance for citizens of 75 countries, including Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Brazil, Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, and many others.

The news spread quickly across the media, but most coverage stuck to sensational headlines like 'The US Has Stopped Issuing Green Cards' or 'US Immigration Has Come to a Halt.' In practice, the situation looks quite different.

Let's break down what has actually changed, which stages of the process are still moving forward, and whether it makes sense to start the process now..

On January 14, 2026, the U.S. Department of State announced a temporary suspension of immigrant visa issuance for citizens of 75 countries.

The restrictions took effect on January 21, 2026.

According to the administration's official statement, the measure is tied to a review of the Public Charge assessment criteria — an immigrant's ability to support themselves after moving to the US without relying on government benefits.

It's important to understand one detail.

What's being suspended is specifically the issuance of immigrant visas by U.S. consulates.

This is far from a halt of the entire immigration system.

The pause applies to virtually all categories of immigrant visas:

• family-based immigration;
• employment-based immigrant visas (EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, and others);
• the Diversity Visa (Green Card Lottery);
• other categories leading to permanent residence.

At the same time, the restrictions do not apply to nonimmigrant visas.

Issuance continues for:

• O-1;
• H-1B;
• L-1;
• E visas;
• F-1;
• J-1;
• B1/B2;
• other temporary categories.

That's why claims that the US has "stopped issuing visas" are inaccurate.

This is where a lot of people draw the wrong conclusions.

Despite the pause, almost the entire immigration procedure continues to function.

1. USCIS continues to review petitions

If you're filing:

• I-140;
• I-130;
• I-526;
• other immigrant petitions,

USCIS is processing them as usual.

Petitions continue to be accepted.

They continue to be approved.

Premium Processing also continues to operate for the categories where it's available.

2. The National Visa Center (NVC) continues to work

After a petition is approved, the case is transferred to the National Visa Center.

The NVC still:

• accepts documents;
• reviews forms;
• accepts payment;
• assembles the case file;
• forwards the case to the consulate.

Nobody has stopped this stage.

3. Interviews are continuing

Many people are surprised, but consulates are still scheduling interviews.

Applicants go through:

• a medical exam;
• an interview;
• document verification.

In other words, almost the entire process runs as usual.

The last step isn't happening.

After a successful interview, the consular officer can fully approve your case.

But the immigrant visa itself is not currently being placed in the passport.

Instead, the case is put into administrative hold (typically under 221(g)) until the current restrictions are lifted.

So in practice, a person goes through the entire process — all that's left is to wait for the moment when the State Department resumes visa issuance.

If your process is already underway, most stages continue to move forward.

You can still obtain:

• USCIS approval;
• Complete status at the NVC;
• an interview invitation;
• a successful interview.

The only thing you can't get right now is the immigrant visa itself.

That's why many cases are currently sitting in wait for that final step.

In our view — yes.

Here's why.

Preparing a genuinely strong immigration case rarely takes just a month. Especially for categories like:

• EB-1A;
• EB-1B;
• EB-2 NIW;
• family immigration with a complicated history;
• other categories involving a large volume of documentation.

Preparation very often takes:

• several months;
• half a year;
• sometimes longer than a year.

If you wait for the restrictions to end before starting to prepare your documents, you could end up in a situation where visa issuance has already resumed — but your case hasn't even been filed yet.

The situation looks completely different for those who start the process now.

By the time the restrictions are lifted, an applicant could already have:

• a fully prepared petition;
• USCIS approval;
• a completed NVC review;
• a completed interview.

In that case, all that's left is to wait for visa issuance to resume.

In effect, the waiting period can be used as productively as possible.

Absolutely.

The main risk is the lack of information about when the pause will end.

As of today, the State Department has not announced when the restrictions will be lifted.

No one can guarantee whether that will happen in a month, six months, or longer.

That's exactly why each case needs to be evaluated individually.

That said, it's important to understand: the US immigration system itself has not stopped.

USCIS, the National Visa Center, and the consulates are all still operating — interviews are being held, petitions are being reviewed, and decisions are being made at most stages of the process.

The pause applies exclusively to the final issuance of the immigrant visa.

Today, there's no reason to delay preparing an immigration case solely because of the current restrictions.

Yes, the final issuance of visas is temporarily paused.

But almost every other stage of the process continues to move forward.

For most applicants, this means the waiting period can be put to the best possible use: building a strong case, going through USCIS review, completing work with the NVC, and — where possible — completing the consular interview.

When the restrictions are lifted, it will be applicants who did this work who find themselves closest to actually receiving their immigrant visa — while those who chose to "wait" will only just be starting their journey.

We continue to monitor changes in U.S. Department of State policy and will publish all official updates as soon as they're available.